Tigers

Finally, we managed to pull through the much challenged fellowship media briefing on tigers and issues around tiger conservation, and not just pulled through but did quite a good job of it, as it turned out -- gauging from the feedback of the resource people, and of course the journalists who, I believe, need this kind of downpour of information to make them understand the issues in-depth.

Protection of tigers is happening in India against all odds. A Sariska-type crisis haunts every protected area in India - where islands of conservation are under attack from poachers, miners and every other exploitative activity. They are also under siege from their own inhabitants, the people, who live in these reserves and outside the islands of conservation, and who have not benefited from these protected areas but continue to lose livelihood options and face daily harassment. In these circumstances, if the defences are down, protection will fail. The challenge is to ensure that the siege can be lifted so that the tigers can survive.